Many Democrats show up about a year before a presidential election, work their hearts out in the primaries, and if their candidate doesn't win, go off and sulk. Republicans understand that you have to work 4 years out of every 4 year cycle, and state elections are extremely important. Democrats don't understand this. -Electoral-Vote.com
In 2008, Democrats controlled 52 state legislatures compared to 33 for the GOP. The tea party movement flipped 20 of them during the midterm bloodbath of 2010, along with the majority of governorships, and the House. 2014 was another bloodbath for the Democrats, which the GOP used to take the Senate. The GOP was so successful in 2014 that three solidly Democratic states (Massachusetts, Maryland, and Illinois) elected conservative governors.
There was absolutely no excuse for that.
Democrats need to vote in the midterms. We need to fight restrictive laws that make it harder to vote. We need to fight for nonpartisan commissions to draw the boundaries of state legislative districts and congressional districts. But out of those three, voting in the midterms is most important.
If people can make it out to vote during presidential election years, then they should be able to make it out in the less crowded midterms. The electoral map in 2018 strongly favors the GOP, but historically, the party that has the White House suffers. I don't expect us to make gains, but if we have a hope of recapturing the state legislatures and the Senate in 2020--which is a big year because of redistricting--then we have to keep the damage in 2018 to a minimum.
If you haven't voted in midterms before, make a commitment to do it in 2018. Then make a commitment to Get Out the Vote for your fellow Dems who haven't. Beg, plead, drag them to the polls. It gets old saying "This is the most important election"--but 2018 truly is a game changer. It will be the most important midterm until 2038, when redistricting for 2040 commences. By then, the millennials will be old, demographics will have shifted, and several states will have turned blue.
I would hope by then that the GOP will have lost all power, but frankly, it is entirely possible that they still somehow hold onto their majority status.
We choose the kind of country we want to be. We choose the nation we want to live in. This country is worth fighting for, and if we don't, we will lose her forever.
I choose to live in a country where today won't be remembered as the beginning of America's xenophobic path, but instead, as the last gasp of a hateful party that chose to embrace misogyny, bigotry, fear and intolerance at a chaotic time to win an election.
The GOP will no doubt celebrate their victory today, and it is their victory.
It is hatred’s victory. It is the Klan’s victory. It is even Russia’s victory. But it is not America's victory.
Just keep in mind that although the GOP won the day, they lost an entire generation. As long as Democrats can remind this generation of what's at stake and why they need to come out in droves to vote, we'll have plenty more days to make up for what lies ahead the next four years.
Movements aren’t made when times are good. They are made for days like today.
Stay strong. God Bless. We'll mourn today, but tomorrow, by God, we’ll fight.
5-Day Action Plan:
#5: Contact your representative
#4: Take over the DNC—precinct by precinct
#3: Make the Resistance visible
#2: Donate to those who will suffer
#1: Vote, dammit, in a midterm.